Ottawa’s Premier a cappella chamber chorale, The Stairwell Carollers is looking for that perfect male tenor voice.
Could it be you?
If you live in the Ottawa/Outaouais region and are available to rehearse in person once a week on Wednesday nights, we welcome you to audition Wednesday January 29, 2025. Contact us now to book your 15 minute tryout!
Sorry, this is not an open audition, you must book your time ahead.
Email : info(at)stairwellcarollers(dot)com
To qualify, all you need is a solid voice, a good ear and a great attitude. Ability to read music is not required, but it is an asset. All music files necessary to learn the songs are provided through our website members page.
Pierre Massie created our a cappella choir in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. With wins in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions, we are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs.
Ottawa choir, The Stairwell Carollers, perform the Spicy madrigal Au joli jeu by Clément Jannequin.
This version of Au joli jeu is on our Audite nova recording. All our music benefits local charities and our albums are available to buy on our Square store in both CD and MP3 formats.
Recorded at St. Columba Church, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, June 4, 2022.
Videographers: Michèle Auger, Drew Mason
Editing: Pierre Massie
In Person Auditions Set for August 24th 2022 - we are especially searching for tenor and bass voices. Also soprano. Email Holly info(at)stairwellcarollers.com to set up your audition time.
Pierre Massie created our a cappella choir in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. With wins in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions, we are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs.
OTTAWA’S STAIRWELL CAROLLERS SEEK TENORS, SOPRANOS AND BASSES
One of Ottawa’s most beloved choirs, The Stairwell Carollers, is expanding its tenor
and bass sections by welcoming new members.
Now in its 45th year, this fully vaccinated choir has resumed in-person rehearsals in
Manor Park since spring 2022. Using the church pews with assigned seating ensures the choir is able
to follow provincial COVID guidelines as well as provide added safety for members.
We are hoping the Christmas concerts for 2022 can be in-person.
Pierre Massie, creator and director of The Stairwell Carollers (who also sings in the
tenor section) chose a variety of choral favourites as the repertoire for the
choir’s past Spring season concert June 4th, 2022.
The Carollers also arranged a series of in-person Masterclass workshops for the choir in the
last week of April 2022 with choral expert Gabriel Lewis O'Conner (formerly of Chanticleer) - a great time was had by all! Workshop post to come :)
Since its most recent in-person concert in December 2019, The Stairwell Carollers
have performed only as a virtual choir with Premiere videos on YouTube. Each choir member submitted their video and
Massie edited together the virtual concert.
“Singing alone at home is nothing like performing for a live audience,” says Massie.
“Now that we’re back to in-person rehearsals, it’s been gratifying to hear our voices
come together in harmony again and enjoy the camaraderie and social interaction
unique to a small choral ensemble.”
However, the choir needs more tenors, sopranos and basses and is now on an active search for
new voices.
“I want to continue pushing our musical repertoire with more
challenging pieces and that demands a balance of voices for the multiple parts and
complex harmonies,” says Massie.
The Carollers are reaching out to tenors and basses looking for a safe, fully
vaccinated choral ensemble to sing with.
A solid voice, a good ear, a great attitude,
and proof of vaccination are all candidates need to qualify. Reading music is an asset
but not a necessity.
Auditions for tenors, sopranos and basses continue until end of August 2022 or until positions are
filled.
Auditions are held via Zoom, Skype or FaceTime with a possibility of some in person auditions end of August 2022. During the audition, the
candidate must have access to software to read PDFs and play mp3 audio files.
Contact Holly at info@stairwellcarollers.com to set up your audition time
Pierre Massie created the a cappella choir, The Stairwell Carollers, in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. With wins in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions, they are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs.
"The music ascends to the rafters, the choral voices surging from moments of delicate precision to a rousing, victorious force. Whether it's a medieval carol, or a wry French chanson from the Renaissance, or more modern music, the Stairwell Carollers know their way around a song."
"In the 1990's The Stairwell Carollers recorded an album which helped raise over $50,000(- For Ottawa Ronald McDonald House - more in-depth history HERE), which sparked their philanthropic goals."
"Now, as the Carollers plan for concerts in their 45th year, Pierre is focused on recruiting more voices, a move that will expand the choir's vocal toolbox and allow the group to tackle a more diverse range of music.
Thanks to Cheryl, soprano, for asking Wes to cover the choir for his excellent local paper. Thanks to Doug Banks for spending so much time with us at rehearsal to get the perfect shots for the article.
We're looking for a few good Men!
The Stairwell Carollers are seeking tenors and basses to join our safe, fully vaccinated choral ensemble. A solid voice, a good ear, a great attitude, and proof of vaccination are all candidates need to qualify. Reading music is an asset but not a necessity.
Auditions for tenors and basses continue till August 2022 or until positions are filled. Auditions are held via zoom, Skype or Facetime. During the audition, the candidate must have access to software to read PDFs and play MP3 files.
Contact Holly at info@stairwellcarollers.com to set up your audition time.
Pierre Massie created our a cappella choir in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. With wins in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions, we are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs.
Stairwell Caroller Choir Auditions continue until August 2022 or until tenor and bass positions are filled. Must live in the Ottawa region - in-person rehearsals have resumed. Proof of vaccination necessary.
About The Stairwell Carollers: Pierre Massie created our a cappella choir in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. With wins in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions, we are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs. A registered Canadian charity, The Carollers also help local charities with net proceeds from concert tickets, CD and cookbook sales. Since 1997 we have donated over $143,800 to local charities and scholarships.
10 reasons You Should audition for my a cappella Ottawa choir, The Stairwell Carollers:
Counting down...
Number 10 -
You get to sing original choral compositions by our director, Pierre Massie - like his award-winning song, "Eya, eya gaudeamus", which we'll be singing this spring!
Here is our YouTube live concert performance with guest celebrity bass, Gabriel Lewis-O'Connor.
Altos, tenors and basses, email info@stairwellcarollers.com and book your 15 minute audition today!
Pierre Massie started our a cappella choir in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. The Stairwell Carollers are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs, winning both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions.
A registered Canadian charity, we also help local charities with the net proceeds from our concert ticket and CD sales.
Thanks to David Rain and his Facebook "Top Ten to Join the Stairwell Carollers"
Top 10 reasons to audition for my Ottawa Choir, The Stairwell Carollers:
Calling all Tenors: here are the top 10 reasons for joining me in the tenor section of the Ottawa Choir, The Stairwell Carollers. NB: these are all songs we'll be singing this spring! David Rain
If you are a tenor,
email info(at)stairwellcarollers(dot)com
NOW
to set up your audition!
NUMBER 10
"Come again? You've got an opening for tenors? And over 129,000 Youtube hits, you guys must be good. I'm in!"
NUMBER 9
We are a proudly bilingual choir; each concert has its share of choral masterpieces in French, like this Morten Lauridsen gem, "Contre qui, Rose."
NUMBER 8
Where else will you get to sing medieval tongue twisters like this one? And can you guess which language(s) we're singing here?
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